One of my biggest dreams in life is to be a walking polyglot. This dream has led me to persevere and land several opportunities to live abroad, experience other cultures and learn new languages.

Now that I am a wife and a mother, my social responsibilities (and my own heart) dictates a change in plan and priorities. We have been travelling less than normal.



in Florence, Italy (July 2005)Times when I have felt the urge to travel and discover new places but have neither the budget nor the time to do so, I do the next best thing... I face the computer and do a lot of armchair traveling.

Since you are reading this, I assume that you are aware of the magic of WWW. If you filter out the bogus sites, use the right keywords and google the destination or activity then, you can definitely start Dreaming. Better than brochures, you can now even take virtual tours of almost all the places that you could think of.

Here are a few suggestions to feed your (and my) wanderlust by doing a bit of armchair travelling at home:

Virtourist offers virtual tours all over the world with enticing pictures and descriptions of sights to see in almost all cities around the globe.

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations is the new show from the Travel Channel. "...his journey takes him to people and places far beyond the realm of food. Following his wanderlust will take the audience to far-out and familiar places, from Iceland to New Zealand and Paris to New Jersey," as mentioned in the Travel Channel website.

Even CNN has joined in the fray and offers a virtual tour of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

For all you know, those online journey to your dream destination might convince you to book that next trip for real. It surely did the trick for me and my husband when we were just "dreaming" of a summer vacation.